How long does it take content marketing to work?
Small business owners often ask “how long does it take content marketing to work,” to determine return on investment. This depends on your marketing budget, resources and what goals you want your strategy to achieve. A recent article from Castleford, a content creation firm, plots out the actions you should implement within the first six months, to develop an effective content marketing strategy.
Laying the foundations
You should spend some time laying down your content marketing strategies foundations, so it has the support needed to thrive later down the line. During this period, it is key that you carry out market research. This will help 
you understand what your consumer base wants to know about your company, products and industry, allowing you to create relevant content your audience will engage with.
Utilising analytics can also help you to understand how users are engaging with your site and other online platforms, helping you refine your content creation strategy. It is also a good idea to develop a long-term content strategy, as well as identify your conversion goals and develop specific call-to-actions, to determine how to you turn content-generated traffic into new business for your company.
Launching your strategy
Between months one and three, start building on these foundations. During this period, you should start publishing content on your digital assets. Remember that you need to carefully target content and that it should provide superior value to what’s already available, so you can attract more attention online than your competitors. It is wise to find ways to develop topical content, so you can turn your company into an industry thought leader which consumers trust to provide quality goods and services.
You will also need to think about distribution. Which platforms can you use e.g. social media sites, to ensure your target consumers find your content? Organic searches, especially on Google, play an important part. It is wise to deploy on-page SEO best practises, such as internal linking, across your digital assets, so that your content places prominently in Google searches involving key industry terms.
Diversifying content marketing
After launching your content strategy, spend the period between months three and six refining it. Examine your digital assets’ traffic volumes via a Google Analytics performance report. Look at whether content had a positive effect on factors such as website traffic and conversion rates, to determine return on investment. Examine content traffic volumes to determine which subjects resonated with your audience, using this data to hone your content creation strategy going forward.
You may also want to start getting more ambitious, once you know what kind of content works for your target consumers. You could experiment with multimedia content, for example, finding new ways to connect with consumers online. You may also want to think about diversifying your promotion strategy. You may, for instance, want to invest in marketing automation, so you can use this fast-emerging software to promote your content across multiple channels, with minimal human input.
Long-term success
It is important to note that digital content distribution platforms are evolving all the time, with technologies redefining what it means to connect with consumers online successfully. It is key that you stay abreast of new content marketing innovations, so you can constantly improve your strategy and widen your audience, allowing your firm to generate new business online.
